Unisaw restoration #2

With work and family I have had very little time to work on my recent restoration project. It is a 1968 Delta unisaw with a 2hp 3 phase motor. As you may remember from the previous installment I had it torn apart and was working on cleaning the cabinet and trunnion assembly. I have completed the cleaning and have painted the trunnion, installed new arbor bearings and have it reassembled.

I finally got around to working on the cabinet. There were numerous holes that had been placed in the cabinet over the past 40 years so I decided to fill them. The smaller holes were filled by mig welding. The larger holes were filled by tacking a backing plate inside the cabinet, mig again, and then grinding the welds and filling with body filler. I have applied 2 coats of primer, with a light sanding between coats and have the first of 2 top coats applied. I have decided to go with the same color as the Walker Turner table saw I did earlier. Shown below are the cabinet and cast iron plinth the cabinet mounts to. The cast iron motor cover, goose egg, needs to be stripped yet and will be painted shortly.

For those that dont remember, Here is the saw as I found it..

-- My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist....medic20447@gmail.com

PurpLev…...I considered replacing the motor if the one on the saw wasnt any good. I replaced the bearing and purchased a variable frequency drive(VFD) to run the motor. The VFD will convert single phase power to 3 phase and was considerably cheaper than a single phase motor of equal or greater hp. I bench tested the original motor with the VFD and it runs great, so I am gonna keep it. FYI….the cost of bearings and the VFD was $150. A new motor is in the $400 range and will not fit in the opening with the motor cover on. I would have to modify the cabinet and I am not going there.

-- My job is to give my kids things to discuss with their therapist....medic20447@gmail.com